SERENADE
TO EVE, AFTER RODIN was commissioned by the duo of Eileen Grycky and Christiaan
Taggart; the idea came from a multimedia performance fresh in mind when they
approached me.

In
October 1998, dancer/choreographer Anne-Marie Mulgrew invited me to perform as
an improvising solo clarinetist to accompany her and 3 other performers from her
dance company at Philadelphia's Rodin Museum. We were invited to perform in the
outdoor garden, but luckily rain forced us inside, in front of Rodin's imposing
Adam and Eve sculptures. Anne-Marie's choreography involved dancers taking
postures and characters of Rodin's works, and the last-minute change into the
gallery added extra drama to our performance, now in front of the sculptures
themselves.

To
integrate music and dance, I wore all-white like the other performers, plus a
top hat as a French gentleman of Rodin's era might have, moving around the stage
as part of the ensemble. The musical language was reminiscent of Debussy,
Rodin's contemporary.

Rodin's
larger-than-life sculptures of Adam and Eve being banished from Paradise added a
bold dimension to our semi-improvised event. I found Eve's grief, terror, and
shame overwhelming. I couldn't resist playing to Eve as much as to the live
dancers, and found myself fascinated with serenading this tragic figure. Despite
our rehearsed plans, in the middle of the performance I approached Eve and began
playing to her in an almost courtly way, progressing from empathy to solace,
trying to make the bronze sculpture smile. That was quite a challenge, but a
very inspiring one.

This
challenge of trying to cheer up the tragic Eve stayed with me vividly. Soon
after, when Eileen Grycky and Christiaan Taggart asked me to compose a flute and
guitar duo, I quickly decided to write a serenade to Rodin's Eve. The actual
music of this duo is different from what was played at the museum, but the mood
and progression capture the original improvisation.

The
Taggart/Grycky Duo premiered this serenade on April 11, 1999 in West Chester, PA.

CORRECTIONS
TO THE 1st PRINTING:
1) Bar 65 should read 8th note = c.120-126
2) At bar 295,
the flute should be marked ff
3) The rehearsal mark for Bar 300 should be 5
bars later